THOUSANDS of Sydney school students are using social networking sites on which teenagers have been subjected to malicious sexual slander and cyber bullying.
''Root-rater'' and teenage gossip sites, based around schools or suburbs, have exploded in poularity in recent months but schools appear to be unaware of the extent of the problem.Northern Beaches Root Rates, a typical Facebook version, was pulled down on Thursday night when it had more than 1200 friends, drawn from schools including Mater Maria Catholic College, Barrenjoey High School Cromer High School, Narrabeen Sports High School, Northern Beaches Christian School, Pittwater High School, Stella Maris College, Brigidine College St Ives and Ravenswood School for Girls.A number of users had attended Freshwater Senior Campus which is part of the Northern Beaches Secondary College. Two students from another campus, Mackellar Girls, were targetted. About one girl an anonymous poster wrote: ''She goes all right but she had a really hairy bum whole [sic] and she squirts too much.''Another poster wrote of a girl: ''Chunky thighs, huge arse ... always available for a root for those who are hard up.''Ms Christine Del Gallo, principal at the Mackellar Girls campus in Manly Vale, said she had received no recent complaints of cyberbullying until contacted by the Herald."Action is being taken to identify the authors of this offensive material, which has also been referred to the department's Child Wellbeing Unit and the department's Safety and Security Directorate," she said."Any sexual references in cyber-bullying are offensive, and appropriate measures need to be taken to deal with them and to support the victims.''Most of the vile comments are made about girls and young women, although youths too are subjected to sexual ratings and abuse.NSW Police said vile gossip posts could lead to criminal charges such as stalk/intimidate or using a carriage service to threaten or menace. In a Sydney court last year a women was successfully prosecuted over threatening and inciting violence against another women on a social networking site. Similar charges were brought against a Sydney man in 2008. Read More
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